Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1887-09-13
Hanged and still Alive.


Yesterday afternoon colored man was
taken i'll on the Common and would have
fallen but for the timely assistance of two
bystanders. The man had been wandering
about the Common since morning, and
had been noticed on account of the peculiar
( way in which he carried his head. 1t hung
toward his right shoulder and he seemed to
to take no pains to pull it into tho position
in which people commonly carry their
heads. He was respectfully dressed in
! clothes that had evidently not been made
| for him, and his boots looked as if he had
walked considerable distance When he
| bad been assisted to seat he tainted, and
| when ne regained consciousness he clutched
at his throat, tore away his collar and said
appealingly: mo, no My God Not
again ~ His embarrassment when he look
ed about him was marked. One of the gen.
tlemen who had assisted him to a seat left
wnen the colored man had recovered, but
the other remained and questioned him as
soon as he had regained his composure.
It was sitting in the Common after he
had dined that he said: 81 have had trou.
ble with my neck and been subject to faint.
ing spells since was hanged in Arkansas"
The expression was startling enough to
make any enc think ,ne mar Was Cray !;
but he was circumstantial as to details of
time and place, and it is a well-known fact
that negro was legally hanged three years
ago in Arkansas for assault on white wom-
an, and afterward recovered consciousness.
As published then, the negro was suspended
for twenty minutes after the drop Of the old
fashioned galows fell, and the body was
given by the Sheriff to the father of the
young man, who, with some friends, was
waiting near by with wagon, 1t was the
intention to take him to the settlement where
he formerly lived and bury him there. This
settlement was fourteen miles from the
county seat, at which the hanging took
place, and was through lonely piece of
country.
When the wagon was nearly at home the
father Of the supposed corpse and his friends
were startled by groans coming from under
the tarpaulin thrown over the supposed dead
man, and bis struggles to get from under it.
As soon as they had recovered from their
fright they went back to the wagon from
which they had fled and helped the legally
dead man up, gave him drink from the
omnpresent Jug of whiskey and took him
home. Instead of leaving the settlement at
once the hanged man stayed around his old
demanded his rearrest and the completion of
the hanging. The case was taken to
the Governor, and pending discussion
as to the right OF the authorities to
take cosnizance of the existence of
convict who mad been pronounced legal
ly dead, the man fed and has been wan
derer ever since. 1t was only after repeated
urging, sweetened with promise of help to
leave the ciGy in comfort that he told his
story in the dialect of Southern field hand,
somewhat tempered by residence in the
North. Dvested of its quaint dialect his
tale is weirdly interesting.
II was locked up," he said, more than
six months, but never thought was going
to be hanged until the night before. Then
| knew the gaIlows was up and Igot scared.
| They prayed with me all the time and tried
to keep me from thinking of but didn't
hear what they prayed about. I was too
excited. [ didn't go to sleep all the night
before, and when they came to fetch me I
was so weak I couldn't stand up. The
Sheriff gave me drink of whiskey, and
then they tied my elbows behind my back
and took ne along. I know there were
crowds around when I went to the gal.
lows, but l didn't seem to see 'em. heard
somebody singing, and I joined in. Then
they pushed me up on the gallowe, and l
saw the rope and got scared again and tried
to hang back, but they pushed me along and
made me stand up straight. | recollect
their putting the moose on my neck ard
drawing it up tight, but | was thinking Of
whether they were going to hurt me, and
all at once dropped. had shut my eyes
when they pulled piece of cloth over my
face, but I opened them then and tried get
MY hands up to tear the cloth Oft so | could
see but all at once l thought some one hit
me a terrible blow on the head, and lostmy
senses When I woke up l thought some
one was choking me, and | tried to get
loose, but couldn't. Then it seemed ns if
my head was bursting, and | saw awful
lights before my eyes, and my feet and
hands seemed to be so heavy / couldn't stir
them. Then great rings of all sorts Of
bright colors began at my eyes and went
further and further of, growing bigger and
fainter until l lost them. My head felt
prickly all over, and so did my hands and
feet, and couldn't breathe, and then 1
tainted. Once knew was being hanged,
but it was only for second.
When woke up in the wagon 1 was
worse scared than before, and when I got
out from under the tarpaulin I thought
had been dreaming. Then, when my neck
got 10 burning me SO, knew what was the
matter. For weeks afterward I could hard.
| iy swallow, and ] couldn't turn nv head.
| and can't now very much. The cords are
all stiff on one side and drawn down. I can
never 20 home again, and can never see
Or hear OF my folks again. They were going
to catch me and do it all over again, so l
ran away. I've been knocking around ever
since, principally in Canada, New Jersey,
New York and Pennsylvania, but now
| FL. l.oucrht I'd copoa LIZ, harn uhara I minht